Economy

Build Back Better or Make America Great Again: The Blue and Red Plans for the American Economy

By Gregory Aderhold Edited by Hannah Rogers

The party platforms provided by the two major political parties in the United States rival in many key regards. The first difference is that the Republican party is reusing a political platform from 2016 and making brief campaign statements for 2020. The second is that Democrats are taking the coronavirus economic devastation as an opportunity for “rebuilding the American middle class for the 21st century, making sure that this time everyone can make it and thrive, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, national origin, age, or ZIP code.”66 On trade, housing, and reducing poverty, the parties have rivaling policies that should be analyzed for comprehension of the U.S. election.

On trade, there is a shared political revulsion to mainland China. The opaque view of China as an economic threat is stated in the democratic platform, “Democrats will take aggressive action against China or any other country that tries to undercut American manufacturing by manipulating their currencies and maintaining a misaligned exchange rate with the dollar...or providing unfair subsidies.”67 This aggressive view towards trade with China mirrors the President’s. Despite Democratic criticism of President Trump’s competition with China, Democrats propose economic competition. The 2016 Republican party platform takes aim at current trade deals with mainland China as it states, “we cannot allow foreign governments to limit American access to their markets while stealing our designs, patents, brands, know-how, and technology. We cannot allow China to continue its currency manipulation…and subsidization of Chinese companies to thwart American imports.” 68 In a presidential campaign document, the president promises to “Bring Back 1 Million Manufacturing Jobs from China.”69 Both parties promise extensive measures to populists demands, swing voters, industrial production, and the theoretical Chinese threat.

On housing, both parties promise to restore the American dream of home ownership. Republicans seek to reduce “the federal role in the housing market, promote responsibility on the part of borrowers and lenders, and avoid future taxpayer bailouts.

66 Democratic Platform Committee, 2020. “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy.” Democrats. Accessed October 18, 2020.

67 Ibid. 68 Fallin, Mary, John Barrasso, and Virginia Foxx. 2020. Republican Platform 2016. Ebook. Charlotte North Carolina: Republican National Convention, 2.

69 “Trump Campaign Announces President Trump's 2nd Term Agenda: Fighting for You!” Trump Campaign Announces President Trump's 2nd Term Agenda: Fighting for You! | Donald J. Trump for President, August 23, 2020.

Reforms should provide clear and prudent underwriting standards and guidelines on predatory lending and acceptable lending practices.”70 Republicans believe the ideal plan to increase housing is to end affirmative action in government home financing and to reform government programs to prevent government housing loans to affluent citizens. Democrats believe it necessary to create “a new tax credit of up to $15,000 to help firsttime homebuyers.”71 Additionally, Democrats have a desire to “leverage existing programs, including at USDA, to build more affordable, accessible housing and retrofit existing housing in rural areas.”72 Democrats will provide direct aid to support marginalized communities, and reverse “decades of red-lining, rising income inequality, and predatory lending practices”73

In the pursuit of ending poverty and blight, Democrats will increase the federal minimum wage to 15 dollars, while expanding key programs in health and nutrition to eliminate many of the gross inequalities regarding quality of life. Democrats want to expand health coverage by incentivizing, “states to expand Medicaid and enroll lowincome people who do not otherwise have health insurance in a new, high-quality public option without premiums.” 74Democrats will expand the usage of banks through, “affordable, transparent, and trustworthy banking services that are language-accessible for low- and middle-income families.”75 Republicans do not see this heavy-handed approach as a feasible solution to the country's inequality and working-class woes. Republicans propose entrepreneurship and individual economic freedom, unhampered by government involvement, “a central reason why the 20th century came to be called the American Century was the ability of individuals to invent and create in a land of free markets.”76 Regarding the Dodd-Frank act, which reformed aspects of the post-2008 banking system, Republicans view it as one reason for the decline of the independent commercial banking system, seeking to “overturn the regulatory nightmare, created by the Dodd-Frank law.”77 The Republican party, not keen on providing social aid, desires proper economic conditions for expansion and promoting the struggling middle class, simultaneously reducing the role of government.

These two rivaling parties view the country’s malaise through drastically rivaling lenses, one wishes to use the levers of government to create unprecedented social programs and reforms while the other seeks to create macroeconomic conditions that will result in the success of American businesses large and small. The two parties have many more priorities on social issues but this introduction to their general thesis should help to define what economic issues for which the 2020 election is being waged.

70 Fallin et al., Republican Platform. 2016, 4. 71 Democratic Platform Committee, 2020.

72 Ibid. 73 Ibid. 74 Ibid. 75 Ibid. 76 Fallin et al., Republican Platform. 2016, 6. 77 Ibid., 7.